Can the Apocalypse Bring Sunshine?
by Oncie's Sweetheart
Summary: I was sixteen when I ran away from everything I ever knew. Stranded on a hill with no water and limited food, I thought I was a goner until I met the one boy and his mule that changed my life. Things would never be the same again. After all, who knew the apocalypse could bring such bright sunshine?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Ok, so I really, REALLY, wanted to write this for a long time. But I'm doing it on a different account so none of my friends can laugh at me. :P**

**Anyways, here goes!  
(My cousin "owns" my OC, it's her name. But I made up everything else. :D)**

**~ Oncie's Sweetheart (hate the name _Oncie_...)**

* * *

It all started with the apocalypse. _Not_. But something close to it. My heart pounding, blood rushing to my head, footsteps echoing on the pavement. As I ran. As fast as I could, to get away from the wreckage that surrounded me, the screams that echoed in my ears, the tears I shed when I learned that my sister- my only family- was _gone_.

I ran to my car, a beat-up, used, lime green old Volkswagen Beetle. I dove in, started the ignition and started driving, not really caring where I ended up. I drove for about three days, only stopping for food. Turns out _that_ was a mistake. My car broke down on a little street on the way to some little town whose name I couldn't make out. I salvaged everything I could from the Beetle and started walking.

A few hours later, I started to get thirsty and my legs were hurting. I searched through all my stuff and found that I had forgotten to bring water. _Idiot!_ I scolded myself. I looked around the green hill studded wih dandelions and decided someone had to come by in the next three days. If they didn't well, this didn't look like a bad place to die anyways. I tied up my dark, curly hair and laid down in the grass, the sun beating down mercilessly on me.

It seemed like only five minutes later I woke up to see a mule staring me in the face.

"What the-" I shouted, sitting up. Looking past the mule (who didn't like being ignored), I saw a cloth-covered wagon. _Cloth-covered wagon? Did I travel back in time or something? Oh, wait. I'm probably either dead or dreaming. _I decided to go back to "sleep", figuring it was just a dream.

Apparently the universe didn't want me to sleep that day. Because no sooner had I closed my eyes than something started shaking me.

"Go AWAY you stupid mule!" I mumbled.

"What?"

I got up so fast you would have thought somebody shot me.

"Woah!" the voice from before came, and then I heard a thud. Rubbing my eyes and then opening them properly, I saw before me not a mule and wagon, but a boy in a gray fedora, sprawled on the grass.

_If there's a boy and a mule, there HAS to be water, right?_

I reached out a hand to help the boy up.

"You have any water?" I asked.

"Um... yes."

"Hand it over." I ordered.

"And why should I do that?" he asked, in a slightly amused tone.

"Because I'm dying of thirst, and I swear if you don't give it to me, I'll take it by force." I yelled.

I guess he thought that was a good enough reason, because he reached into the wagon and tossed me a bottle.

"So, where were you headed?" he asked, in an attempt to start a conversation.

"What makes you think I was going anywhere?" I said, gulping down half the bottle.

"Well, you were kind of sleeping on a hill with all your stuff around you, and judging from what you've packed, you were planning to go somewhere- and far away." he said.

"And what exactly have I packed that brings you to this conclusion O Great Einstein?"

"Well, the food you have, for one. It's all packaged, so that means wherever you're going is too far away for you to bring fresh stuff. And the clothes. You have all kinds of clothes, so you're prepared for all kinds of weather which means the forecast won't help you. And-"

"Okay, Okay, I get it. And I don't know where I'm going, okay? What about you?"

He looked confused at this, but then shrugged.

"I'm looking for somewhere to make my invention."

"So basically you have no idea where you're going either."

"Maybe..."

"Mh hmm,"

"Well..."

"Admit it."

"I'm not going to," he said.

"And why not?" I asked. "Is it because it means I'm right? Because I'm _always_ right, you know."

"Sure, sure whatever. Anyways, is the water all you wanted? Because I'm going to need to hurry up if I'm going to go anywhere."

"What's the rush? It's practically dark anyways!"

He gave me a look. "It's _noon._"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. But I want to sleep."

"You'll probably die of thirst."

"So? Not like you care."

By now I'd figured that I might as well hitch a ride. So I tried to make him feel bad.

He sighed.

"What do you think Melvin?"

I tossed the mule my only apple. He brayed. Rule of Life #1: Want animals attention=give food.

The boy sighed. _Again_. "Get in."

Figuring I wasn't going to get a better seat even if I asked, I gathered up all my stuff, put it in the wagon, and hopped in. "Set sail captain!" I said. The boy mumbled something under his breath.

"Didn't catch that, sorry," I said sweetly with a smile.

"Nothing."

After a while I got used to the jerky movements of the wagon and the boy's constant singing and managed to fall asleep. Finally.

I woke up, fully rested to find the driver asleep.

"Guess it's just you and me, Melvin," I said to the mule, and tossed him a cracker. Opening the rest of my package of Ritz and a wedge of firm-packed cheese, Melvin and I had a good snack. Realizing this was a good chance to see exactly what my host looked like, I leaned over the front and looked at the driver's seat. He had jet black hair, same color as mine, but unlike my bouncy curls, his straight locks lay flat and smooth on his head. He had bangs, and on the whole, I could admit that he did look a little cute. Not that I would tell him that. He was easily taller than me with extremely long legs and arms. Looking closer, his guitar looked exactly like the one my friend had given me for my birthday. It even had the little 'R' carved right at the base of the neck-

"HEY!"

Immediately, he woke up, his eyes- they were bright blue- widened in shock. They darted around from side to side in a quick, scared motion, it was almost funny to watch. Then his gaze landed on me, my furious expression, and then finally down to the guitar in his hands. From the look on his face, I could tell that he knew it was mine.

"I-I-I can explain."

Oh, so he stuttered when he was scared. How _cute_. (Note my sarcasm.)

"No, there's nothing to explain. Did you, or did you not _steal_ my guitar?"

"Well I did , but-"

"No buts. Hand it over."

After recieving the guitar, I tried to think of what to do. Then I remembered the secret stash of marshmallows I had found while he was asleep. I had eaten some, (What? I was hungry!) and then sneakily repackaged the whole thing so he wouldn't notice the difference. I headed in that corner now.

I saw his eyes slowly get bigger and bigger until I thought they would pop out of his head as he realized where I was going.

"NO! NOT THE MARSHMALLOWS!" he screamed, then clapped a hand over his mouth.

I raised an eyebrow. (Or tried to anyways)

"You talking about-" my hand plunged into the clutter and grasped the bag. "-this?" I pulled out the bag I had resealed earlier. In front of him I deftly opened it, ate a handful of marshmallows, and resealed and stuffed the rest of the bag in my backpack.

"NO!"

"Well, I'll be going- YOU HAVE A VIOLA?"

"Why?" he asked, arms crossed, trying to look calm.

"Tell me or I keep the rest of the marshmallows."

This was enough to get the information out of him.

"Y-yes. And it works. Why?"

"No reason. I think I'll be going now," I said, and with a wink I jumped off the moving wagon and ran into the surrounding foliage. The last thing I heard was a scream, that vaguely sounded like "Marshmallows".

I smiled to myself as I started to run, gaining a head start if he decided to follow me.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Ok, so I really, REALLY, wanted to write this for a long time. But I'm doing it on a different account so none of my friends can laugh at me. :P**

**If you're reading this friends, HA!**

**Anyways, here goes!  
(My cousin "owns" my OC, it's her name. But I made up everything else. :D)**

**I'm also looking for a new PenName. Any ideas?**

**If I get reviews, then I am happy.**

**If I am happy, then I write more.**

**Therefore, by the Law of Syllogism, **

**If I get reviews, then I write more. **

**:D**

**~ Oncie's Sweetheart (hate the name _Oncie_...)**

* * *

I kept running and running, putting as much distance as I could between the wagon and I. Not that I'd really care if he caught up, but more for me to have an incentive to keep moving. I was getting sluggish these days, always sleeping. I supposed it might have been the shock of my sister's... removal from my world.

A heavyness came over me again. It wrapped its cold fingers around me and squeezed out every bit of happiness as if I was a dish towel. Bleh. After a while, when the sun was actually down, I decided to finally settle down. From what I could see in the darkness, there was lots of puffy clouds around. Good. No rain tonight. There was a sweet smell in the air, and it lulled me to sleep on my haphazardly constructed bed of brush.

I woke up to the sound of singing. Had someone else discovered my secret grove? Or worse, was I sleeping on private property? I inwardly grimaced. This could get ugly. I blinked open my sleepy eyes and looked around. What I saw took my breath away. The colored puffs I had mistaken to be clouds in the dark of the night were actually _trees_. Great big- **truffula trees**? Looming above me, the skinny little trees reminded me of something I'd read somewhere. But I couldn't exactly remember...

Now to locate the sound of the singing. After looking all confused for a while, I found two fish behind me singing while lifting up a little bear. No, wait. Not a _bear._ A _Bar-ba-loot_. And the fish were _Humming_ Fish. Which means the orange birds flying high in the sky were _Swamee Swans_. Which means- I was in the world of the Lorax.

I remember now- I know this place. I squinted into the sun and tried to remember the storyline. But the last time I had read that book was over four years ago, and it just wouldn't come to me.

Oh well. I shrugged. Might as well take advantage of the fact that I knew where I was. Kind of. Well, I knew what things _were_...

I had the vague suspicion that this place would be destroyed in the future. Oh well. I'd try to save it. As long as I was here anyways. I decided to go out and make a shelter for my stay. I didn't have anything to cut down trees with, and I really didn't want to anyways, so I started to use the slightly damp earth to build. Eating truffula fruits every once in a while, I finished my "house" by evening, at about six.

"What do you think guys?" I asked the bar-ba-loots, who had stayed with me the entire time I was building.

Instead of building something that stuck _out_ of the ground and took up space, I had dug _into_ the earth and hollowed out an area the size of two or three rooms. Using the extra dirt I took out, I then made it a "two-story" house by adding stairs that went from 'deepest' to 'deeper'. I aso managed to make some pretty good furniture (chairs mostly) by sculpting the mud (dirt + river water) and leaving it to dry in the hot sun. A stove was something I didn't have, but I built a little hole in one "room" that went up to the surface where I could build a fire and cook. All in all, not a bad job. Tomorrow I would go and buy sheets and things for my bed.

The bar-ba-loots were mostly eating and jumping around, but one little bar-ba-loot (who I instantly named Pipsqueak) went closer to the entrance hole and tumbled in. I looked in and laughed.

"Let's get you out of there little guy,"

I gently picked him up and brought him back to the surface. I frowned. Pipsqueak and other animals couldn't keep falling into my house. I quickly built a little door that would go down only at a certain amount of pressure- not even the biggest bar-ba-loot could make it open. Only another human could, and seeing that there are no humans around here but me... I was safe. I decided to take a bath and went down to the little river. After looking around for a while, I saw a little pool next to it. Perfect.

An hour later, I was clean and hungry again. I decided to figure what tastes good roasted, and what doesn't. At worst- well, I still had those marshmallows I stole...

* * *

Never. Ever. Roast. Truffula. Fruit.

Unless you want to die in heaven, they tasted that good.

* * *

Dinner over, I dragged out my "bed" of brush from the night before (I wasn't ready to face my house, and anyways, I wanted to sleep under the stars) and lay down with the bar-ba-loots around me. The humming fish sang what suspiciously sounded like a lullaby and I drifted off to sleep.

This routine of work,food, play, food, bathing, food, and sleep continued for about two weeks uninterrupted. I was starting to think my hidden valley was really hidden from danger, and started to relax as the days melted by. Every few days, the animals would manage to get me to tell a story about my life just after dinner (If you could call it that) while they slowly went to the land of slumber. And every time that happened, Pipsqueak would be the only one awake to hear the whole thing. Then he snuggled up to me and fell asleep.

One day, during storytime, ( I was telling the story of the time I had finger-painted the white walls of the staircase- right before Open House) I heard, in the distance, a faint bumping sound, as if something was moving. But all the animals were gathered around me, and I didn't see any trees moving, so I figured it was nothing.

Boy, was I mistaken.

The next day, I woke up as usual to the sound of humming fish crowing, but what I didn't know was that it would be as _far_ from usual as you could get the next few days.

Getting up to collect truffula fruit for breakfast, I noticed the sudden stillness. Where had all the animals gone? I spotted three humming fish on top of a truffula, probably the wake up crew for the morning. But as I looked around, everyone else was gone!

"Guys?" I whispered.

No response.

"GUYS!"

A few Swamee Swans heard, and flew towards me.

"PIPSQUEAK!" I screamed.

Then I heard a vaguely familiar voice, singing.

It grew louder and louder, and I realized with horror it was coming this way. I quickly dove behind a bush and slowly started to climb the truffula next to it. By the time I reached the top, the owner of the voice had reached the clearing.

It was the boy from the hill.

Oh, perfect.

Hoping that he was just passing through, I flattened myself into the soft tuft and waited for him to move on. No such luck. He started throwing everything out of the back of the wagon. That was when I noticed the animals crowded around him. The sharp objects started landed dangerously close to the animals. A fish even got hit with toothpaste! I wanted to tell the animals to back away, but doing so would alert this guy that I was here. Instead, I plucked some of the readily available truffula fruit and threw one.

SPLAT!

It missed, and hit Melvin instead. Oops.

I threw another. This one knocked off his fedora.

"Hey! Who did that?" he asked, looking around as if one of _them_ might have thrown it. Idiot.

I threw yet another. This one hit him squarely on the nose and knocked him backwards. Time to make my entrance? I think not. I kept throwing fruit, hoping to get him scared. Instead, he just wiped it off and took out- was that MY GUITAR?

I slapped myself. I had forotten to take it with me when I left. He threw it aside, but I managed to make eye contact with a humming fish, who caught it, and snuck over to me to hand it over.

I examined it thoroughly. Besides the fact it had just been thrown, it looked in fine condition, so I assumed he had been treating it carefully. Still, the nerve of him! I locked eyes with the fish again, telling him to attack. He quickly spread the word, and soon everyone but Lou (The fattest bar-ba-loot) was geared up to attack. The kid looked scared, and pulled the first thing he could use to defend himself with out of the cart, which just happened to be- marshmallows. Great. They LOVED marshmallows, so my attack plan was pretty much dead. As if on cue, the first bar-ba-loot attacked, and ripped open the bag, causing marshmallows to go flying. It was pretty much an all-you-can-eat marshmallow buffet after that, so as I sighed I could see the relief on his face.

The animals followed him as he picked up an axe and walked towards a truffula. No. This was bad. Very, VERY, bad. I just assumed he would sleep here for the night, maybe eat fruit, but never THIS! The poor animals of course had no idea what he was going to do as he walked towards the tree. _NO!_ I inwardly screamed.

I slipped down from the tree, but it was too late.

CRACK!

The first chop had gone deep into the tree. The boy continued to hack away at the tree until it fell, and then dragged it a few yards away to start doing goodness knows what.

Just then a fish approached and knocked at the tree, testing to see if it was safe. I nearly laughed, because _of course_ nothing would-

BOOM!

The stump shivered and shook and then let out a big stream of (blue?) smoke up to the ever swirling clouds. Thunder and lightning boomed and crackled, and the fish looked scared as his friend slapped him. I didn't blame him, personally. After this climatic spot, everything went back to normal, and I inwardly sighed. Maybe it was just freak weather or something. Then there was a POP! and a furry orange thing with a giant yellow mustache fell out of the tree. He seemed disoriented for a second, then saw the stump and had a breakdown. He spluttered for a second then started to gather rocks and stones to make a little funeral for the tree. I thought it was sweet and started gathering stones and placed them with him and the other animals, who had slowly joined in. When he looked up, he seemed surprised to see me, probably because I was human, but he didn't object. Slowly, we all joined hands and had a moment of silence.

The fuzzy orange guy must have had a thing against humans, because the first person he addressed was me.

"Did you cut down this tree?"

Startled by the question, I replied with "No!"

Looking around, he didn;t see either the tree or anything to cut it down with, so I guess he believed me.

"You know who did?"

"Actually, yes."

"Show me."

Wordlessly, I pointed at the guy, who was whistling and dancing while plucking the tuft off the tree.

The orange thing grumbled, then straightned up.

"Forgot to introduce myself. I'm the Lorax. You are?"

"Rashika."


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Ok, so I really, REALLY, wanted to write this for a long time. But I'm doing it on a different account so none of my friends can laugh at me. :P**

**If you're reading this friends, HA!**

**Anyways, here goes!  
(My cousin "owns" my OC, it's her name. But I made up everything else. :D)**

**I'm also looking for a new PenName. Any ideas?**

**If I get reviews, then I am happy.**

**If I am happy, then I write more.**

**Therefore, by the Law of Syllogism, **

**If I get reviews, then I write more. **

**:D**

**~ Oncie's Sweetheart (hate the name _Oncie_...)**

* * *

"Nice name."

"Nice mustache sir,"

I don't know why I called the Lorax 'sir'. It just felt like the right thing to do, especially since he seemed a _lot_ older than me.

He laughed at that, and then started to take on a serious expression. Grumbling, he walked towards the boy. (Who from now on until I learn his name will be known as Blue Eyes. Personally, I prefer Annoying Stalkerish Idiot, but that wouldn't be fair, would it?)

More than anything, I wanted to see this bright spirited overtly optimistic boy who looked like he'd never even gotten the smallest scolding in his life get chewed out. He'd probably start crying or something though. I hate crying people who aren't my close friends, because then you don't have any idea what in the heck to do with them.

That's why I was hiding behind this bush. (I wasn't in a tree in case he turned into some tree-felling freak and started destroying everything in sight.)

Sometimes I think I read too much horror.

Anyways, the Lorax was walking towards Blue Eyes and practically all the forest animals were following him, interested to see what would happen. Except Pipsqueak, who was right next to Blue Eyes trying to see what he was doing. This somewhat annoyed me, because Pipsqueak was supposed to always be following around _me_. Considering the circumstances though, I wouldn't blame him. Yet.

Peeking out from my bush, I watched the scene in front of me unfold.

First the Lorax snuck up under one of his tufts, so when Blue Eyes pulled it out he freaked and fell over backwards. (He seems to do that a lot.) For what I suspected would be the first and last time in his life, the Lorax was taller than him; the fact that he was standing on the trunk of the chopped down tree helped.

"Did you chop down this tree?" asked the Lorax.

"No-o-o"

The Lorax glared at Blue Eyes.

"What's that?" he quickly asked, pointing off into the distance.

As the Lorax turned around, Blue Eyes took advantage of the distraction and dropped his axe on the nearby Pipsqueak. The Lorax snapped his gaze back, seeing nothing, just in time to hear.

"I think he did it." and a point at the tiny bar-ba-loot.

I barely managed to stifle a laugh. He could barely lift the axe off him, let alone chop down an entire tree! The Lorax, to his credit, wasn't stupid and just sighed.

"Go. Get out. Shoo!" he said to Blue Eyes, and then he launched into a big explanation, which included thunder, lightning, and acceptance of an offensive marshmallow. In the end, he could see he wasn't getting anywhere, (Can you feel my pain?) and turned away, looking like he was giving up. As Blue Eyes started to celebrate, the orange fluffball kicked away one of the stakes holding up the tent-ish looking thing I assumed was Blue Eyes' house. (It said "The Once-ler" at the top- his name, maybe?)

"Hey! What-" Diving for the rope, the newly named "The Once-ler" staked it back to the ground, just in time for the next stake to be kicked back. And the next. And the next. The pair looked so funny, running around in circles, kicking and staking, each wanting the other to just exit the former's lives. Until, that is, Pipsqueak nearly got staked. That drew the line. I jumped out of the bushes, only to see the Lorax handling it. So I slunk back to my house. After taking a bath at the pool, I returned to my house in a towel to find things terribly wrong:

1. My house was practically on fire.

2. The Once-ler was in my house.

3. THE ONCE-LER WAS IN MY HOUSE. WHAT WAS HE DOING HERE? I TECHNICALLY DIDN'T EVEN KNOW HIS NAME!

I inspected the boy in what little time I had. There were newly created bruises on his face and arms, so I assumed he had accidentally fallen on my disguised door, and, being human and therefore of weight, fallen inside and landed on his face.

Ha. Good for him.

First, to deal with the fire.

"What the _hell_ is going on in here?"

I don't normally swear, but, you know...

The Once-ler looked up in the same crazy fashion like when I woke him up in the wagon. He looked first at the fire, then at the match in his hand, (I hadn't noticed it earlier) and then up at me, his mouth forming an O.

"What are you standing there looking at me for? GET A BUCKET!"

He still didn't move. (Probably was transfixed by my awesomeness. Or the fact that I was just in a towel and yelling at him...yeah.)

"AM I SPEAKING ENGLISH OR NOT? BUCKET. WATER. NOW!"

That jarred him into action. He found a hose, (HOSE?) and put out the fire.

"Great, you just doused my cooking wood. I'm going upstairs and changing. Then I want an explanation."

He looked as if he wanted a few answers too.

I came down in a couple of minutes in a pair of comfortable shorts and a T-shirt, my hair out in it's tangly mess. When he raised his eyebrows, I snapped

"It's my house. I'll dress how I want. Now would you please tell me WHY THE HECK YOU STARTED A FIRE?"

"You're not going to ask what I'm doing here?"

"I already know."

"And how-"

"First off, I designed the door to only open to humans. Second, I disguised it very nicely. Third, you have bruises all over your face and arms, so you obviously fell in. And fourth, I wasn't here to make you GET OUT."

"Okay, okay, you're right."

"Remember what I told you not so long ago? I'm _always_ right."

He groaned.

"What are _you_ doing here then?"

"I ask the questions, you provide the answers." I said impatiently. "Now, back to my house on fire..."

"I was cold."

I started to ask how he could possibly be cold when it was so warm outside when I remembered we were deep in the earth. I was always layered with a sweater or warm clothing, and I would usually strip off the top layer(s) when I got outside.

"Okay, I'll believe that. But why didn't you..."

I trailed off. Right. I hadn't been there, and whatever possesions I had were all located upstairs, where I assumed he hadn't been yet. His stomach growled. I decided to make food.

"Last question. Have you been upstairs in this house?"

"No."

He was telling the truth. Well, he looked like he was anyways.

"Good. And actually, one last question."

"What!"

"Answer. It."

"Ask away," he said in a bored tone.

"What's your name?"

He looked surprised at this. Probably wasn't expecting it. But really, how was I supposed to communicate if I went around calling him 'Blue Eyes' all the time?

"The..."

"The Once-ler?" I offered.

"What! How'd you know?" he asked, his blue eyes wide in surprise.

"It was on your door." Now it was _my_ turn to act bored.

"Oh. Oh. Right. Wait, you were there?"

I brushed off the question. "You hungry?"

"I asked you a question."

"And I'm asking _you_ one. You hungry or not? Because if you aren't... more for me, Blue Eyes,"

"Blue Eyes? And yes, yes, I'm hungry," he said, after fully comprehending the entire sentence.

I pulled out the new box of pancake mix I had bought at the little town nearby and quickly followed the directions for the batter. I went to a cupboard to get the pan when-

"This doesn't taste very good."

I whirled around.

"You're not supposed to eat that! Haven't you ever had pancakes before?"

"Pancakes?"

_I'm dead._ I told myself. _Very, very, dead._

"You'll see. But don't eat anymore of the batter- that is, the stuff in that bowl."

"I know what_ batter_ is..."

"Mm hmm"

I got to work again, frying the pancakes and setting out the maple syrup and butter.

"That smells good."

"I know."

"Not very modest, are you?"

"Nope." I replied cheerfully, and brought out the first stack of four, sprinkled with maple syrup and a little butter. He poked at the pancake for a while.

"Eat it, I haven't poisoned it or anything," I said, laughing.

He just looked at me.

"What?"

Kept looking at me.

I walked over next to him and took a bite.

"See?"

Yep, he was just looking at me.

"Do I really have to prove it to you?" I sighed and started eating.

About halfway through my bites of heaven, something started poking me.

"What?" I said without looking up.

It continued until I finally looked up.

"What?" I said exasperated, then looked down at the plate. There was nothing left.

"Oops." I said. "Sorry, I'll make you some more."

He learned the second time, and kept an eye on me warily while he ate. I guess he realized I wasn't trying to kill him by poisoning, starvation, or any other means, and actually started enjoying the pancakes. When he was done, he sighed and smiled.

"Thanks."

"What? Oh, you're welcome. No big deal."

I guess that was the end of his talking for the day, and so he lay back in the chair.

"Exit's in the roof." I said. "If you _ever_ decide to leave," I added, under my breath. I grabbed my customary bag of truffula fruit and marshmallows and headed to the campfire, where I saw we had two new guests: the Lorax and (surprise, surprise!) Melvin.

I tossed Melvin a truffula fruit, and I'm pretty sure he just likes fruit in general, because I kept giving them to him throughout dinner. (What? I was still hungry!)

"So, I heard you got good stories," came the Lorax's voice.

"Nothing special...how about a fairy tale tonight, guys?"

The swamee swans and bar-ba-loots cheered, (the humming fish liked personal stories) and Melvin just grunted.

"Well, once upon a time, in a kingdom far, far, away, there was a king and a queen. Now, one day, the queen became very sick..."

Whenever I told fairy tales, I nearly always told the storybook version. Tonight was an exception though. I always hated the original story Rapunzel, and instead, told the story of Eugene and his adventures in Disney's _Tangled_.As I wove the story of the faithful horse, princess locked away in a tower and the daring master thief, I felt myself getting sleepier and sleepier. Just like usual, one by one, all the animals fell asleep. I would have too, if I hadn't remembered about the boy in my house.

"I have to go. Lorax, can you take care of the animals tonight?"

"Of course. But what about beanpole?" he said, his voice changing to panic.

"Beanpole?"

"The tall, skinny one. Ya know, who cut down the tree?"

"Oh, him. That's why I'm leaving."

"I warned him today. About the trees."

"I doubt he'll take you seriously. I mean,_ I_ do. But he doesn't seem that kind of person. Anyways, I have to kick him out of my house."

"_Your_ house? Why is he at your house?"

"Fell in. Literally. And I made him pancakes and now he won't leave."

"The forest? Or your house?"

I sighed. "To tell you the truth, I don't think he's going to leave either."

"Whatever. Go get his a- You know what? I don't think I'm going to finish that sentence."

"I think that's a good idea," I agreed, hiding my smile.

* * *

No way. You're kidding me. I am _not_ having this kid in my house overnight. Talk about uninvited guests.

Just then, his eyes started to blink open.

"Leave. Now."

"Whaa? But I'msotire..." he dragged himself up, making a sad face with his eyes.

"No! Don't do that! I'm immune to you! Agh!" I tried to look away, I really did.

But those _stupid_ puppy eyes...

"Fine. You can stay. But only one night. And you sleep on the couch."

I trudged upstairs and returned with a pillow and blanket.

"Sleep." I ordered, and went to go upstairs. After I had changed into my pjs and brushed my teeth, I came down to turn off the light and go to bed when I saw him. Now I felt bad, making him take the pretty hard couch and whatnot. _He invaded your house. Stop feeling bad. _I mentally slapped myself and went upstairs.

But I couldn't sleep. I kept feeling bad. So eventually, I went downstairs and went over to the couch.

_Oh, you're going to regret this in the morning._

And I probably was. Because the only bed was mine, which was where I was moving him. So I got to sleep on the rock-hard couch. Whoopee.

I dragged his limp body upstairs (Now THAT sounds creepy...) and practically shoved him in the bed. I have no idea, to this day, how he did not wake up.

I looked down at him, sleeping so peacefully and tried to frown. But, because the universe hates me, I found I couldn't.

I went downstairs and back to sleep.

_Stupid Once-ler._


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: So, dear readers, sorry about the delay...**

**My sister's birthday was this week, and she's turning nine... so... yeah.**

**So, to get a better idea of my readers, I'd like to know what drew you to this story. **

**Was it the title? The summary? Or did you have nothing better to read? Be truthful. I don't mind if you only read this because it was the only story left on the entire Fanfiction database. I just want to know. :D**

**Anyways, here goes!  
(My cousin "owns" my OC, it's her name. But I made up everything else. :D)**

**I'm also looking for a new PenName. Any ideas?**

**WHO WANTS A CHAPTER IN THE ONCE-LER'S POINT OF VIEW? REVIEW AND TELL ME!**

**If I get reviews, then I am happy.**

**If I am happy, then I write more.**

**Therefore, by the Law of Syllogism, **

**If I get reviews, then I write more. **

**:D**

**~ Oncie's Sweetheart **

* * *

_Why am I so nice again? _I thought to myself as I woke up in the morning, remembering everything that had happened last night.

Apparently, The Once-ler wasn't so lucky because I heard glass breaking and multiple swears from upstairs.

_He swears? Didn't seem like that kind of person._ I shrugged. I mean, look at me!

As soon as I got up from the bed, my whole body started to hurt.

_I knew I was going to regret this. I'm buying a mattress as soon as I can! Wait...why would I need one?_

_Oh, right. Just _in case. _He's _not _staying another night. Better go see if Blue Eyes is okay._

I dragged myself into the "kitchen" and up the stairs. My bedroom door was open, but I knew I had left it like that last night, so I knew I was fine. Peeking in, I saw a tremendous mess: the bedding was all over the floor, my glass zodiac sign picture frame was broken, and the blue-eyed boy was nowhere to be found.

I rushed around from room to room, ransacking the closets and shelves.

"Once-ler! Blue Eyes! Where are you? Hello! Once-ler!"

Not finding him, I returned to my room for clues. I was pretty sure he was still in the house because the only exit was in the roof, and I hadn't taught him how to use it yet. It was pretty complex...

"Annoying Stalkerish Idiot! Blue Eyes! Marshmallow Boy! Once-ler!"

My calls became quieter and quieter as I realized he wasn't going to answer. Then I heard a creak.

"Once-ler?"

Looking closer, I saw it was just a door closing from the fan.

I walked downstairs to put on running shoes, thinking about finding the Lorax to help when I heard a cough.

I whirled around. Guess what I saw?

Blue Eyes. At the table. In blue bunny pajamas. Eating... was that _pancakes_?

"What the he-" I said, too angry to finish my sentence.

"Good morning to you too."

"Care to explain?"

"Explain what?"

"This." I said, indicating him and his food.

"I'm... eating?"

I sighed. "I can see _that_. I'm talking about the mess in my room. And about me searching for you for about half an hour.

"You.. were looking for _me_?"

"No, I was looking for your twin brother. Yes, I was looking for you," I said exasperatedly. "SO, why didn't you tell me you were going downstairs?"

"Well you were kind of already down there, so I couldn't tell you without going down anyways, AND I have no idea how you didn't see me... I cleaned your kitchen though," he offered.

"Wha? This isn't about the kitchen, it's about me getting all worri- Whoa."

I looked around. Everything had a place, and the "counter" was sparkling. My small table was set for two (TWO?), and the fire pit had been cleaned.

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why'd you do it?"

"I figured you could use a break. And it was the least I could do considering all you've done."

"All I did was introduce you to pancakes- well, that might actually count- and let you sleep on an extremely hard couch."

"All? I think that's a lot considering you met me properly yesterday. And don't think I didn't notice you moved me upstairs. And took the 'extremely hard couch' yourself."

"You know what? I'm actually not going to argue this one out with you. Mostly because you saved me from doing any work today."

"It takes you a _whole day_ to do that?"

"Considering the amount of times I stop for food? Yes."

"So what do you want to do today?" I asked him.

"Why are you asking me?" he asked surprised.

"You cleaned my kitchen." I said.

"What a big honor."

"I know, dear Once-ler, I know. Now, what do you want to do?"

* * *

**The Once-ler's P.O.V.**

I was still answering all her questions, but one thing the curly-haired girl had said had stuck in my head.

_"Wha? This isn't about the kitchen, it's about me getting all worri-"_

And then had come the wows over his kitchen cleaning.

He appreciated the compliments on his work, but he knew he'd always be wondering-

If he had let her finish, if he hadn't told her about the kitchen just yet, would she have said_ worried_?

* * *

**Back to Rashika's P.O.V.**

"No way. I am _not_ doing that."

"Suit yourself," I said sweetly. Then I started to climb up the truffula trunk.

The Once-ler and I had used- filled, I should say, _filled_ up an entire day with swimming, hide-and-seek with the bar-ba-loots (Ah, the things you do when you're sixteen...It never gets old), and pretty much just rolling down hills (and singing).

Until I climbed the first tree.

It was a hilarious sight, me quickly clambering up to the top while an extremely tall and thin boy (Guess who?) stands horrified at the bottom.

"You're going to slip and fall and die and then I'll have no one but Pipsqueak to keep me company," he called up to me.

"Stop overreacting. And you'll still have the Lorax," he made a face, "And Melvin. And you can keep my guitar- but ONLY if I die. And I'm not going to. So don't get your hopes up." Reaching the top, I sat in the soft truffula tufts, feeling the breeze whip my hair around and against my face. I stood up, reaching my arms into the sky, feeling as if I was the only being living in this wonderful paradise.

"I'm on top of the world!" I shouted.

Of course, if you remember, the universe hates me, so my elation didn't last long.

"You're going to fall!" called the Once-ler, bringing me down to earth. I frowned at him.

"No, I'm no- Aaaah!" I screamed as I fell backwards, feeling the air leave my body as the familiar bird swoops in my stomach. The ground rushes up to me.

"Rashika!" came a voice, floating in from the distance. I saw the look on his face as I plummeted towards the ground, a mask of horror.

And then I stopped.

Hanging from the truffula tuft, were my arms, who never really left the tree.

Blue Eyes' mouth was changed from a shout to an 'O' and then to a look of anger.

"Haha. _Real_ funny Rashika." he said as he saw my efforts to contain a laugh.

I climbed back onto the tuft again, giving up on trying to hide my smile.

"But-laugh- it-laugh-was-laugh-so-laugh-funny! The-laugh-the-laugh-look-laugh-on-laugh-your-laugh-hilarious!-laugh-laugh-laugh"

I was practically rolling around now on the tree, my stomach hurting from all the laughing.

After I while I calmed down, and lay back on the tuft, my head hanging upside down over the side.

"Sure you don't want to come up?" I asked, directing my question to the backwards image in my eyes.

No answer.

"What?"

No answer.

"Are you mad? Why? Even if I had died, you would have gotten a freakin' awesome guitar!"

I'm pretty sure this brings a smile to his face, but then it disappears, and I still get no answer.

I climbed down from the tree and ran after him.

"Once, wait!"

_Once?_ You might be asking. Personally, I like it because it's shorter than "The Once-ler", and it doesn't bring the boyfriend/girlfriend suspicion that "Oncie" does. Plus, "Oncie" sounds absolutely ridiculous.

Thinking about this new name, I ran into his back, knocking him down and onto a rock.

"Ow."

"Sorry! You okay?"

He examines his hand.

"Just a small cut."

"Come on, I've got band-aids."

At my house, I band-aid his hand and then sit down on the couch/bed.

"So, about my climbing/falling thing today. I'm sorry if it... made you mad, I guess. Or sad? I don't know. And I don't know why. But I'm still sorry, okay?"

He looked up at me with those bright blue eyes that remind me of bright blue skies and mesmerize me... I'm aware that he's saying something, but I'm not paying attention because I'm too transfixed by those _eyes_.

_Shut up, Rashika._

"What? I missed that."

"Oh... Nothing." he said, and I'm pretty sure he said it just the tiniest bit sadly.

"I'm going down to the campfire." I said, getting up to get my bag of truffula fruits and marshmallows.

"Campfire?"

"Right, you didn't come yesterday... Well, it's pretty much well, a camfire, and we roast marshmallows and truffula fruit," He looked at me like I was crazy. "What? And sometimes the animals will convince me to tell a story, and then we all go to sleep happy. You should come."

The words were out of my mouth before I could stop them.

"Nah. Well, it's just that I'm kind of tired and all... so, you know..."

I turned away, trying to hide the disappointment in my eyes.

"But, if that's a problem, I can come..." he said.

Was it_ that_ obvious that I wanted him to come?

"No, that's okay, you don't have to come if you don't want to," I replied, not saying what I really wanted to: that I DID want him to come.

Stuffing the last of the marshmallows in my bag, I walked out and over to the door.

"If you're hungry, you can make pancakes. I would, but I'm going to be at the campfire. See you later." I said with a forced smile, then I ran out the door.

The campfire that day was pretty uneventful, with no stories told. Everyone just drifted off to sleep, and I pulled out my sleeping bag.

"Isn't the beanpole staying at your house overnight?" the Lorax asked.

"Who knows, who cares?" I said bitterly. "As long as my house isn't burned down by morning, I certainly don't."

"What's wrong?" asked the Lorax.

"What? Nothing. I'm just really tired... if you REALLY want me too, I can go check on him." I answered, faking a yawn.

"Yeah, I'd like you to do that," he says, then turned around to go to sleep.

I picked up my sleeping bag and acted as if I was going home, but about twenty yards from my house I laid out my sleeping bag and pillow and sat down, hugging my knees to my chest, staring at the stars.

If only they could give me the answer to my life...

At what I assumed to be five hours later, I was still awake and in the same position, rocking back and forth to keep warm. I wrapped a blanket around myself and huddled, almost wishing to be back in the house. _Almost._

Plus, I was still hungry.

* * *

**A/N: I was going to continue here, but I wanted to do a Once's P.O.V. and I don't know if you guys like those yet. :)**

**So, a pretty uneventful chapter and all, but tell me how you liked it.**

**:D**

**~OS**


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